Traditional Chinese Medicine for Osteoarthritis ?

In coping with osteoarthritis, most arthritis sufferers
would go for the conventional Western method of
treatment, which mainly involves painkillers and
anti-inflammatory pills, plus physiotheraphy and
glucosamine sulphate tablets.

However, there are some patients who seek
alternative methods of treatment, particularly
methods which are natural and does not involve
drugs.

One such method is the use of traditional
chinese medicine. or popularly known as TCM.

TCM largely consists of Chinese herbal medicine,
acupuncture, dietary therapy, and massage,
though the term is often extended to a wide
assortment of largely unregulated over-the-counter
supplements and remedies

The underlying principle in TCM is that illness
occurs due to the imbalance between the organ
systems in the human body.

As all the organs are inter-related to each other,
when one organ weakens ..... it then weakens
the other organs as well, thus causing a chain
reaction which results in the illness.

In short, the Ying and Yang elements in the
body is not balanced and synchronised.
Thus,  the aim of TCM is to nurture and
restore the affected organs back to a
healthy and balanced state.

To buy traditional chinese medicine,
one can do an online search or visit
the practitioners of TCM.

In countries like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong,
Singapore and Malaysia, it is common to
locate a shop selling traditonal chinese
medicine.

And in the west, one can easily find such
TCM practitioners if you stroll down the
Chinatowns in cities like New York, Toronto,
Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
and so on.

If one is to pay a visit, most likely the
practitioner will tell you that the level of
acidity in your body is high ..... thus
compounding the effects of osteoarthritis.

He will then prepare for you a concoction
of Chinese herbs, which consists of over
10 different types of tree barks, leaves,
roots, flowers, fruits, seeds and shoots.

The herbs are meant to reduce the acid
level ...... and subsequently neutralize it
to achieve a balanced Ying Yang in you.

The concotion of herbs need to be boiled
with water over slow fire for about 30 minutes,
after which the herbal residue is drained off
and the extracted herbal juice is ready for
drinking,

Chinese medicine are usually very bitter
in taste. Thus, if you have a sweet tooth,
it is recommended that you get yourself
ready for a lingering bitter effect.....

As such herbal preparations are not a
one-off miracle cure, you will need to take
it for at least 10 times to be able to gauge
its effectiveness in helping you to treat and
cope with the osteoarthritis.

Relieving osteoarthritis pain ....

In trying to cope with having osteoarthritis,
the first thing that one should do is to try to
relieve the pain.

The common methods to relieve pain are :

---  eat well and eat wisely
---  keep a diary of the pain
---  always get a good sleep
---  do not stay in the same position for too long
---  do exercises to strenghten the muscles
---  always maintain a healthy, balanced weight
---  have regular warm baths and hot soaks
---  using topical analgesic creams in early osteo

The above are what you can do on your own
to overcome the pain and stiffness related to
osteoarthritis.

As for the doctor, the common prescriptions are :

---  over-the-counter pain relievers
---  non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

What one should realise is that arthritic conditions
will be there for a long time....... usually for life
...... and needs constant monitoring and treatment.

As such, it is imperative that you establish a good
working relationship with your doctor to find a
care that is best suited for you to relieve, contain
and possibly overcome the pain.

Apart from physical pain, the other aspect that
should be considered is the mental pain.

Any osteoarthritis sufferer will have thoughts like :

---  what if the stiffness become worse ?
---  what if I cannot move my fingers in future ?
---  what happens if I can't bend or straighten them ?

All these negative thinking will somehow surface
at one time or another, since fear will arise that
one would not be able to use the hand as normally
and as effectively as before.

For example, some people will fear that they
cannot type properly on the computer keyboard,
........some will fear the inability to hold onto
the car steering wheel ..... some fear that they
cannot have a tight grip on the sports racquet
...... some will fear the pain and stiffness will
affect the way they hold their pen in writing
..... and worst, some unknowledgeable folks
may even fear that they will end up with a
stroke !

Thus, in trying to relieve the pain associated
with osteoarthritis, it is important that one
should not only focus on the physical pain,
but also on the mental pain and agony too.

This will certainly create a better pain-management
and pain-relieving strategy for the longer term .